1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the storage of information, and particularly to automated cartridge handling systems such as cartridge libraries which store cartridges or cassettes of magnetic tape.
2. Related Art and Other Considerations
In the early days of computers, information requiring storage could be transmitted from a computer to a tape drive, whereat the information was magnetically recorded on or read from a large reel of tape. Upon completion of an operation of recording on the tape, for example, the reel would be removed manually from the tape drive and mounted in a rack. Another reel from the rack could then be manually mounted, if necessary, in the drive for either an input (tape reading) or output (recording to tape) operation.
Eventually it became popular to enclose magnetic tape in a cartridge, the cartridge being considerably smaller than the traditional tape reels. While many persons are familiar with tape cartridges of a type which can be loaded into a xe2x80x9ctape deckxe2x80x9d for reproduction of audio information (e.g., music), it is not as commonly realized that similar cartridges, although of differing sizes, can be used to store such information as computer data. For years now magnetic tape cartridges have proven to be an efficient and effective medium for data storage, including but not limited to computer back-up.
Large computer systems have need to access numerous cartridges. To this end, automated cartridge handling systems or libraries for cartridges have been proposed for making the cartridges automatically available to the computer. Many of these automated libraries resemble juke boxes. Typically, prior art automated cartridge libraries have an array of storage positions for cartridges, one or more tape drives, and some type of automated changer or cartridge engagement/transport mechanism for picking or gripping a cartridge and moving the cartridge between a storage position and the tape drive.
Important to the automation of cartridge libraries as previously known has been the provision of the cartridge changer or cartridge engagement/transport mechanism for picking or gripping a cartridge and moving the cartridge between a storage position and the tape drive. Such rotobic mechanisms, often called a cartridge xe2x80x9cpickerxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cgripperxe2x80x9d, is typically mounted in a library frame in order to introduce and remove cartridges relative to one or more stationary drives. The stationary drive and the picker are mounted to the same basic frame structure of the library, but otherwise are structurally independent.
The following United States patents and patent applications, all commonly assigned herewith and incorporated herein by reference, disclose various configurations of automated cartridge libraries, as well as subcomponents thereof (including cartridge engagement/transport mechanisms, entry/exit ports, and storage racks for housing cartridges):
U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,106 to Herger et al., entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE LIBRARY SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOFxe2x80x9d.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,277 to Sills et al., entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE TRANSPORT ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOFxe2x80x9d.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,772 to Younglove, entitled xe2x80x9cREADING METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CARTRIDGE LIBRARYxe2x80x9d.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,986 to Marlowe, entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE RACKxe2x80x9d.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,237,467 and 5,416,653 to Marlowe, entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE HANDLING APPARATUS AND METHOD WITH MOTION-RESPONSIVE EJECTIONxe2x80x9d.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,116 to Woodruff et al., entitled xe2x80x9cENTRY-EXIT PORT FOR CARTRIDGE LIBRARYxe2x80x9d.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,579 to Woodruff et al., entitled xe2x80x9cPICKER MECHANISM FOR DATA CARTRIDGESxe2x80x9d.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,339 to Woodruff et al., entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE RACK AND LIBRARY FOR ENGAGING SAMExe2x80x9d.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,978, entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE HANDLING SYSTEM WITH MOVING I/O DRIVExe2x80x9d.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,008,964, entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE LIBRARY AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOFxe2x80x9d.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/970,205, entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE LIBRARY WITH CARTRIDGE LOADER MOUNTED ON MOVEABLE DRIVE ASSEMBLYxe2x80x9d.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/121,541, entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE LIBRARY AND METHOD OF OPERATIONxe2x80x9d.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,745 Application Ser. No. 09/121,816, entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE LIBRARY WITH ENTRY/EXIT PORT AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOFxe2x80x9d.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/121,819, entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE LIBRARY AND METHOD OF OPERATIONxe2x80x9d.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/121,966, entitled xe2x80x9cCARTRIDGE MAGAZINE AND LIBRARY EMPLOYING SAMExe2x80x9d.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/121,817, entitled xe2x80x9cDRIVE CARRIER AND CARTRIDGE LIBRARY EMPLOYING SAMExe2x80x9d.
It can happen that cartridges or cassettes, upon loading into a magazine or the like of a cartridge library, are overinserted or overpositioned so as to interfere with or otherwise cause problems in operation of the library. What is need therefore, and an object of the present invention, is method and apparatus for precluding overinsertion or improper positioning of cartridges in a cartridge library.
Cartridges are loaded into or retrieved from an automated media library either singly through an entry/exit port module, or by opening a library door and inserting/removing a cartridge magazine from a magazine cavity of the library. The present invention includes structures for precluding against overinsertion of a cartridge. An entry/exit port cartridge overinsertion protection assembly is provided to prevent overinsertion of a media cartridge loaded into the entry/exit port module; a cartridge restraint assembly is provided to guard against overinsertion of a cartridge stored in a cartridge magazine.
The entry/exit port cartridge overinsertion protection assembly includes a cartridge restraint member which is pivoted away from a cartridge restraint position by a cartridge transport device when the transport device seeks to obtain or deposit a cartridge at the entry/exit port. The cartridge restraint member comprises a finger which, when contacted by a leading edge of the cartridge inserted into the entry/exit port, precludes movement of the leading edge of the cartridge port past an insertion limit position defined by the finger. The cartridge restraint member is biased into its cartridge restraint position. The entry/exit port further comprises a cartridge carrier or caddy into which the cartridge is positioned, and wherein the cartridge carrier is adapted to slide in the passageway provided by the entry/exit port.
The cartridge restraint assembly which guards against overinsertion of a cartridge stored in a cartridge magazine is responsive to movement of a library door. Upon movement of the door from a door closed position to a door open position, the cartridge restraint assembly responsively moves into a cartridge restraint position to prevent over positioning of a cartridge situated in the cartridge magazine. The cartridge restraint assembly includes a pivoting member having a visor formed thereon. The visor has an edge which, when the cartridge restraint assembly is in the cartridge restraint position, obstructs travel of a cartridge past a cartridge insertion limit position. A biasing member biases the pivoting member so that the cartridge restraint assembly is in its cartridge restraint position when the door is in its door opened position. The pivoting member has a cam surface. The door has a cam follower which contacts the cam surface formed on the pivoting member during a least a portion of one of a door opening and a door closing operation.